Unwelcome European Travel

I have travelled to many countries in Europe.  The article you mentioned is a very good one that describes how tourists are behaving.

I agree that as travel has become more affordable, travel isn't a luxury that it used to be.  People used to dress up to fly and the on-board service consisted of china and real silverware.  I miss Ward Air and Canadian Pacific Airlines.

Many tourist sites are being damaged as the wear and tear from people who walk and wear down the paths and the fragile buildings are starting to crumble even more.

 Each tourist that takes a stone or some small memento contributes to the destruction of a historic site.

Even if all tourists were incredibly careful, kind, and respectful, over-tourism would be an issue for some of these European cities and areas with major tourist attractions.

However, I can't help but feel that in general, there are a higher percentage of tourists behaving poorly now than in the past. And I can absolutely understand people living in those places not wanting the crushing over-tourism they are receiving, particularly with people behaving badly.

I, personally, am not interesting in visiting any major cities in Europe because I don't wish to deal with the crushing throngs of people. Dh & I each have our own lists of places to visit, and we try to avoid any major cities at all, no matter what marvelous things the city might offer.

I've seen videos discussing possible fees to enter certain cities to try to cut down on day-trippers, but the prices mentioned seemed too low to matter imo.  Many of these places may need to start raising their prices significantly, in hopes of scaring off some of the crowds. 

It's unfortunate, of course, for those who would then not be able to afford to go, but it's simply not feasible for such a relatively small list of locations being swamped with such immense crowds all of the time, particularly when these places were never meant to handle so many people at all times.

But if the relentless crowds destroy some of the landmarks, or cause them to be closed to the public, then no one will get to visit them in that situation, either.

I also like to camp and like you have plenty to still see here to keep me busy, and I haven't done much international travel.

I don't care that much about it to go somewhere where I'd be pelted with water bottles, so I'll refrain from darkening doorsteps in Italy. But I would very much like to visit Greece one day. DH and I are pretty quiet people, respectful, but I know not all tourists are like that unfortunately.

The loudest and most obnoxious tourists I've ever come across have been Italians, ironically. The quietest and most respectful, Japanese.

You're welcome!  It took me a while to figure it out.   Once you click on the Gift Article link, then you have to click on Copy Link in the popup box, NOT the link in your browser address bar.    That's what kept messing me up.

I think some of it is the ability to go internationally on a whim, without much planning or advance knowledge.. and some is the instagram culture.

I have traveled a lot overseas.. and most seem to concentrate on only a few sites, and not spread out to learn about where they are and what the culture is like there.

Thank you 😊

I grew up in a US tourist spot. When I was a child it was just a place for the locals and occasional tourists when special events would happen. Then it changed into a full time tourist town. The biggest complaints the locals have in that area is the tourist behavior on the road. They go 25 mph on the fwy, because they're sightseeing rather than paying attention to the 65mph signs. They block traffic and stop on a dime when they see something interesting. They crowd the streets and don't have respect for the locals. People go to work in that town and need to get places. Follow the traffic signs and don't assume that everyone can read your mind.

It's a beautiful area, parts of it, just breathtaking, but trash and disrespect play a role in the environment. I wouldn't touch the lake w/my hands.

The hotel rates are astronomical. Over the years the tourist spots started to take over the local spots. People, when you travel remember that you are visiting someone else's house. Be courteous, be alert, pick up your trash and for goodness sake don't hold up traffic or cause near misses, because you aren't paying attention. If you don't know where to go then pull over and find out.

I live near Niagara Falls, a huge tourist attraction and thus, close to 3 border crossings, USA-CDA.  I stay off the highways on most weekends, simply because of the tourist traffic.  Many people (looking at you Toronto - GTA) have a drivers licence but don't own a car.  They rent a car for a week/end. 

They are totally unaware of the features of the car, windshield wipers, blinkers, other buttons that they are distracted when driving.  Then the road is very busy and they forget the speed limit and either go very fast or very slow, are unaware of the different lanes (hello truckers) and of course, construction.  

Usually the people are talking in the car and they forget their exit or they get the road number mixed up with the exit number and chaos happens.

There is only 1 major highway into/out of Niagara Region.  If there is a collision, the lineup starts, the service roads become clogged and it is nasty.

The many barricades that have been installed due to people not reading caution signs has ruined some experiences.  People think that they can hike down the Niagara Glen to the Niagara River in flip flops and careless footwear.  They slip and hurt themselves or worse, fall into the water and are swept away into the whirlpools.  This happens, unfortunately many times.  Then it is up to the local fire department, EMS, police to do search & rescue or recovery.  The cost is passed down to the local taxpayer, not the person who requires help.  Sometimes people are fined but not often enough.

The Barcelona incident in particular came up around here as we're scheduled to go there next March. I'll preface all this to say, I LOVE TRAVEL. Love, love, love it. My parents were not much for traveling and went on my first airplane ride when I was 16 and got a passport in my early 20s and fell in love. I've traveled extensively - in both popular and remote locations. Italy is a place I've gone several times and hope to go back as it's just amazing. I absolutely feel for the impact of two things in particular - one was mentioned in the article, short term rentals which really skew real estate prices and cruise ships which really skews restaurants and retail.

We saw the cruise ship impact a ton in Greece. We're not much for cruising, but went for this trip and some of the worst of cruising was definitely felt. It's pretty much impossible to beat the crowds. We spent 4 days in Athens prior to the cruise, and could pretty easily navigate the heat and crowds (even though it was summer) as we weren't limited to the 9-5 cruise ship scheduled.

I'd say the same about our trips to all the big tourist destinations. We've done Rome, London, Paris etc all during peak or semi-peak seasons as that's when the kids were off school and could navigate just fine with some preplanning. If you're getting off a ship with thousands of others to see a handful of places in a handful of hours it's going to be rough - and that's one of the issues Barcelona in particular is experiencing. It's been popular for quite some time, but European cruises have definitely become more popular so some of these places are seeing the impacts that places in the Caribbean and Mexico have seen for decades. Way too many crappy tourist shops near ports and restaurants only doing business for lunch if that.

Several articles have mentioned that this was one of the worst seasons for Greece's hotels and restaurants for their most popular islands as travelers with longer itineraries were avoiding the cruise crowds. So hotels and restaurants were suffering despite the hordes trying to take their selfie next to the iconic architecture and then getting back on their ships and bitching about the crowds.

The short term rentals are also really rough for locals (which is why some cities in the US and internationally) limit or forbid it. You have housing stock sitting empty a lot of the time for overpriced short term rentals and that has a huge impact on neighborhoods - I get it and do understand locales needing to navigate how to prevent their cities from become wastelands outside of a handful of weeks/months.

While there's no doubt there's a lot to see in the US - one of the things I love about travel IS the other cultures. It gets your out of your bubble if you let it. Unfortunately too many people are trying to stay in their bubble while traveling and just capture a few pictures for their instagram account.